Prewrapped box



Sept. 15, 1959 Filed Nov. 29, 1956 w. HL'PERRY ETAL" 2,904,238

PREWRAPPED BOX 4 Sheets-Sheei. '1

WW)! Ferry 40x10. .1 Jfiklier Sept. 15, 1959 w. H. PERRY ETAL PREWRAPPED BOX Filed Nov. 29, 1956 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 v III II I

fizz, W i my? P 1959 -w. H. PERRY EIAL 2,904,238

PREWRAPPED BOX 25 f m Mk4 M,

may:

United States Patent PREWRAPPED BOX William H. Perry, Newton, and Louis J. Olivier, Melrose, Mass., assignors to Cambridge Paper Box Company, Cambridge, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application November 29, 1956, Serial No. 625,086

3 Claims. (Cl. 229-40) This invention relates to packaging and particularly to boxes or cartons of the type adapted for packaging merchandise sold at retail.

The invention basically comprises a knock-down box of cardboard or boxboard as it is known in the trade, which box has been cut to provide flaps and a lid shaped to facilitate closing the ends after the box has been set up. The box in its knock-down condition has had applied thereto an outer wrap, preferably of decorative paper or the like, of such size and configuration as to entirely cover the box when the box has been set up and closed with the merchandise therein.

Knock-down boxes provided with an outer wrap, broadly speaking, are known to the art. One form of such box is shown in U.S. Patent No. 2,294,690 for Prewrapped Box of September 1, 1942. The present invention, however, constitutes an improvement thereover by providing a new and novel relationship between the inner box and the outer wrap whereby the durability of the package is substantially improved, closureof the ends is facilitated and the cost of manufacture is'reduced. The present invention also provides an improved end closure structure whereby by a simple folding operation both the box flaps and overlying wrap are, in a single movement, placed in proper interlocking position to provide a closure strong enough to resist opening under the pressure of the weight of the contents.

A further improvement in the present invention is found in disposing the grain of the boxboard and paper wrap in the same direction, namely, longitudinally thereof, thereby to present a stronger box when erected and to eliminate puckering of the wrap as the box is shifted from collapsed to erected position.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds with the aid of the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the box with the outer wrap thereon in erected position with the ends still open.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l with the outer wrap removed to show in more detail the construction.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with the box and surrounding wrap in initial collapsed position.

Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 show successive steps that may be followed to close the bottom end of the box.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the top end of the box with the cover still open.

Figs. 10, 11, 12 and 13 show successive steps that may be followed to close the top of the box.

Referring first to Figs. 1, to 4, the construction of the box is as follows: The inner boxboard portion of the box generally referred to as at 2 comprises four rectangular sides, 4, 6, 8 and 10. The number of sides may be more than four if preferred. The side 4 has a flap 12 which is glued to side 8 as at 14, thereby to secure the four sides in tubular formation. The box has a closure element in the form of a lid 16 with a short exice tending flap 18. The dimensions of lid 16 are such that when it is folded it will suitably close the end of the erected box with the flap 18 tucked inside.

- At the bottom of the box there are four flaps 20, 22,24 and 26 of special configuration as shown but it is to be understood that other end flap designs may be used without departing from the invention. Flaps 22 and 24 are identical and all of the flaps acting in conjunction with each other serve to close and interlock so as to provide a secure sealed bottom.

Referring now to Figs. 1, 3 and 4 it will be seen that the box is surrounded by an outer wrap referred to generally at 28 which has sides 30, 32, 34 and the portions 36 and 38 which overlap at 39 and cover the side 4. Portions 36 and 38 could abut, if preferred. The wrap is secured to the interior box by gluing the portions 36 and 38 to the side 4 as at 40 and the overlapping areas of portions 36 and 38 are likewise glued together as at 42.

The outer wrap 28 is so cut at the bottom end of the box that there are extending portions which overlie and substantially conform to the flaps 20, 22, 24 and 26 and these overlying wrap portions are numbered 44, 46, 48 and 50 respectively. Each of the wrap flap portions 44, 46, 48 and 50 are glued to the end fiaps 20, 22, 24 and'26 respectively, preferably over their entire overlapping areas.

1 At thetop of the box the wrap extends beyond the ends ofthe sides 4, 6, 8 and 10m provide a cuff having sides 52, 54, 56 and 58. That cuif portion 58 which .overl ies, lid 16 is. preferably glued to the lid so that closure of the lid will carry wrapped portion 58 with it.

The nature of the construction is also shown in Fig. 4 in which the box is in collapsed position. The longitudinally extending corners of the box have been scored as at72, 74, 76 and 78 so that the sides may readily be' folded from collapsed to erected position or vice versa. Since the wrap is glued only to one side'which side in the preferred construction is side 4 it is apparent that as the box is shifted frornthe position of Fig. 4 to that of Fig. 3 the wrap may shift circumferentially as needed with respect to sides 6, 8xand10 so that there will be no binding or puckering at the corners.

In Fig. 2 the longitudinally extending wavy lines indicated on the sides 4 and 6 at 60 are to illustrate that the grain of the box extends lengthwise of the sides and the scoring at the longitudinal corners is parallel with the grain of the box material. This provides a stronger construction than would be the case if the grain ran in the crosswise direction. Similarly, the grain of the outer wrap is disposed longitudinally, thereby permitting any needed stretching of the paper to give a superior appearance at the four long edges when the box is erected from the position of Fig. 4 to that of Fig. 3.

An explanation of one method of closing the bottom of the box will now be given. By reference to Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 and for simplicity in explanation it will be understood that each of the box flaps 20, 22, 24 and 26 has glued to its outer side the outer wrap portions 44, 46, 48 and 50 shown in Fig. 1. Thus, when the box is finally closed, as appears in Fig. 8, the entire end area is covered by the outer wrap portions which are so numbered in Fig. 8, in addition to the numbers indicating the box flap elements.

The first step in closing the bottom of the box is to swing flap 20 upwardly to a vertical position. The second step is to swing flap 22 inwardly to snap the lower pointed portion 62 over and behind the central horizontal portion 64 of flap 20. Next, the flap 24 is swung inwardly as shown in Fig. 7 with its point 66 snapped over and behind the horizontal portion 64 of flap 20. When so positioned the flaps 22 and 24 will overlap. The flap 26 is then swung downwardly and the end tab 68 thereof is tucked in behind horizontal portion 64 of flap 20, thereby locking all four flaps together in a manner capable of resisting dislodgment by the Weight of the goods that may be packed in the box.

The top of the box is closed in the following manner as may be seen by reference to Figs. 9 to 13 inclusive.

Lid 16 is turned downwardly with flap 18 tucked inside bottom 8. Since cuff portion 58 is affixed to the lid, the parts will be in the position shown in Fig. 10.

Cuff portion 56 is then swung inwardly as shown in Fig. 11, after which cuff portion 52 is likewise swung inwardly as shown in Fig. 12 and finally, the folded cuff portion 54 is swung upwardly as in Fig. 13 to complete the fold. The visible portions of cuffs 52, 54, 56 and 58 will, of course, be the outer wrap so the box when closed is entirely covered on the four sides and both ends with the wrap. The flap 54 may then be sealed or tied in any conventional manner to complete the packaging.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that we have provided a new and novel construction which permits packaging of articles in a quick and simple manner with the final assembled box being completely covered with an outer Wrap the same as if the inner box had been individually wrapped in the usual hand manner.

It will be understood that the dimensions and proportions of the box may be varied at will as the principle involved is applicable to all boxes of this type of construction.

It is our intention to cover all changes and modifications of the example of the invention herein chosen for purposes of the disclosure which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A box comprising a tubular member formed of a plurality of permanently connected sides which may be folded upon themselves to be in collapsed position or may be erected to article receiving formation, each of said sides at one end of said box having a flap adapted to be folded to cooperate in interlocking relationship with the other flaps to provide a closed end when the box is in erected formation, the other end of said box having a lid attached to the end of one of the sides of said box, an outer wrap of relatively thin material completely surrounding the sides of said box in both collapsed and erected position and overlying and conforming generally to the configuration of said end flaps and secured to each of said end flaps whereby when said end flaps to which said wrap is attached are folded to provide said closed end, said end will be completely covered with said wrap material without the necessity of further folding of said wrap and a cuff of said outer wrap extending beyond the box at said other end withone side of said cuff overlying said lid, said wrap being secured to one side only of said box.

2. A box as set forth in claim 1, said box sides being made of boxboard' having its grain running longitudinally of said box and said outer wrap being made of paper having its grain also running longitudinally of said box.

3. A box comprising a tubular member formed of a plurality of connected sides which may be folded upon themselves to be in a collapsed position or may be erected to article receiving formation, each of said sides at one end of said box having a flap adapted to be folded to interlock with the other flaps, two of the flaps attached to opposite sides of said box being identical and long enough over half their width to partially overlap when folded and including transversely directed pointed portions at their ends, a third flap extending from one of the sides between said opposite sides and having a transverse edge behind which said pointed portions of said first two flaps may be positioned, and a fourth flap opposite said third flap having an end tab adapted to be positioned under said transverse edge. and over said overlapping parts of said two flaps and the said pointed portions thereof to provide a self-sustaining closed end when the box is in erected formation, the other end of said box having a lid attached to the end of one of the sides of said box, an outer wrap of relatively thin material, completely surrounding the sides of said box and overlying and generally conforming to the configuration of said end fiaps and secured to each of said end flaps, a cuff of said outer wrap extending beyond the box at said other end with one side of said cuff overlying said lid, said wrap being secured to one side only of said box.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,294,690 Perry Sept. 1, 1942 2,479,456 Arthur Aug. 16, 1949 2,596,087 Shoudy May 6, 1952 

